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Topic: Currently listening, part 1 (Read 869631 times)

Margins - Fragile ExistenceThis is a late 2013 collaborative project between Dan Crossley (Facture/Fluid Audio) and Craig Tattersall (The Boats). Once again, this is an amazing product from Facture in which the packaging/art is as central to the release as the music. The music itself is decent, but not remarkable. It largely combines field recordings and tape loops to create a fractured but ambient atmosphere. The Crossley nature prints that accompany the release are absolutely beautiful, however, and are worth checking out on the Fluid Audio site regardless of how you feel about Tattersall.

This does give me a little pause. Maybe Tattersall should be a little more discriminating in what he chooses to release? These luxury packages are nice, but when the music falls a little short, you can feel a little burned. I liked Light Folds, though I'll admit that there are a few parts I haven't heard yet out of the 10 hours or so on that release.

I liked the Orla Wren/Aaron Martin/Isnaj Dui "The Blizzard That Birthed Her" release, though the packaging seemed kind of elaborate for what was essentially an extended remix CD.

Through a first listen I'd say the voices also remind me of what would happen if the Cylons from Battlestar Galactica were somehow reprogrammed to be peaceful and they all joined a hippy love cult- and I mean that in the best way possible.

I think we have a winner.

Forrest: Good points. But, given that fans can be discriminating with respect to what they choose to buy, I assume everything balances out in the end.

Forrest: Good points. But, given that fans can be discriminating with respect to what they choose to buy, I assume everything balances out in the end.

Hi Chris,

Well, yes and no. Listeners can learn to be more discriminating once they've been burned, but I think both artist and label have an obligation not to flood the market with subpar material just because they can. It can have a slowly corrosive effect on the genre as a whole, and people could come to view the music as largely disposible.

Alio Die & Sylvi Alli - Amidst the Circling SpiresStefano's cathedral-style drones mixed with ethereal vocals from Sylvia Alli. I've been eagerly awaiting this release since it was first announced this past summer. It is perfect. I'm a sucker, however, for dreamy music that contains haunting female vocals; it is an old 4AD hangup.

Been on a Rush revisit these last few days.....it was this song that I remember understanding the power of a synth...Vast Moog leads and deep rich Oberhiem chords. It was after this album I lost touch with the group as they followed a different path and I had followed them from Hemispheres.....time to see what I missed!

Marsen Jules - BeautyfearOkay, maybe not classic ambient. This is the latest Marsen Jules release. I wasn't a big fan of his last release on 12k, so I was a bit uncertain about what to expect with Beautyfear. Fortunately, this album is perfect in the sense that it retains elements of what I would consider his "roots" (i.e., orchestral or acoustic samples manipulated, looped, and layered in creative ways) while still trying to innovate beyond that. As the title suggests, Beautfyfear is a collection of tracks of that span the spectrum from ethereal and light to the darker and more foreboding. The cool part is that the tracks cannot be discriminated by name; the tracks are simply numbered, leaving the listener a bit uncertain about what will come next. The instrumentation itself doesn't vary much and leans more toward the synthesized end of the strings spectrum more than the acoustic one. The homogeneity of the instrumentation coupled with the split personality lurking in the atmosphere makes for a really cool listening experience.Samples/Buy: https://oktaf.bandcamp.com/album/beautyfear